Inclusion criteria:
- The study recruited any hospitalized case with pulmonary
symptoms necessitating admission in intermediate care and/or ICU during
the period between 27th March and
11th April 2020.
The study is international multicentre study included 3 centres
(Cardiology and Chest hospital of Zagazig university hospitals and its
isolation unit, Egypt), (Covid assigned Hospital, Athens ,Greece) and
(National Institute of Cardiology, México)
• Exclusion criteria: Patients with one or more of the
following criteria were excluded from the study:
- Patients with congestive heart failure
- Patients with pulmonary embolism
- Patients with poor echo-window
Patients were seen at first at Emergency Department (ED) that did the
required investigations for all patients and classified them. Patients
were first questioned about symptoms suspecting Covid 19 infection.
Those who met the suspected clinical and investigational criteria were
given a standard mask and were rapidly transferred in a safe way to a
separate waiting and isolation area (isolation) with available
infrastructure and tools for hand and respiratory hygiene practice. If
the patient was proved to be positive for SARS‐CoV‐2, he was sent to
quarantine. For negative patients, they were admitted to intermediate or
ICU according to their clinical status.